


The Perfect Pairing

by Dancing_Adrift, JillMarie



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Christmas, Enemies to Lovers, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Homophobic Language, Humor, Kissing, M/M, Misunderstandings, Reverse Big Bang Challenge, Schmoop, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 10:18:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8840752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancing_Adrift/pseuds/Dancing_Adrift, https://archiveofourown.org/users/JillMarie/pseuds/JillMarie
Summary: Jared is the top creative consultant and event planner at Wallace Entertainment. When he gets passed over for promotion in favor of the owner's nephew, former TV star Jensen Ackles, Jared starts making plans to get out and start his own company. He doesn't care how qualified Jensen is, how supposedly nice, how good looking... But over the rush of the holidays, maybe Jensen can still change Jared's mind and persuade him to stay - with the company, and with him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **STORY BY:**[ JillMarie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/JillMarie/pseuds/JillMarie) ([jillmariej](http://jillmariej.livejournal.com/) on LiveJournal - check out her [LJ post](http://jillmariej.livejournal.com/21814.html) for this story [here!](http://jillmariej.livejournal.com/21814.html))  
>  **ART BY:** [Dancing_Adrift](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancing_Adrift/pseuds/Dancing_Adrift) (more [art at the masterpost on LJ](http://dancing-adrift.livejournal.com/12990.html)!)
> 
> Created as part of the inaugural J2 ReverseBang challenge on LiveJournal, based off [this original prompt](http://i.imgur.com/BkAZE2p.jpg): _"Jared and Jensen in [a] wine cellar. Jared captures the moment."_

Kathryn Newton scurried into her supervisor’s office unable to suppress a high-pitched squeal. “This is it, Jared! Are you nervous?”

Jared stood up from his desk, straightened his sweater and took a deep breath. “No. Excited, yes, but not nervous. I’ve worked for Dee Wallace for five years. Managed the area’s largest events for the last three. I’ve earned this.”

Kathryn’s grin widened. “That’s right. Next time I see you, you’ll be President Padalecki.”

Jared smiled at her vote of confidence and headed for the conference room. “Wish me luck.”

“Luck! Not that you need it!” she called after him.

As accounting gave their report, Dee Wallace looked at the staff gathered in the room. She loved these people and truly wanted the best for them, but she wasn't changing her mind. She was out of there. In less than sixty days she would be relaxing on the beach with a cocktail in one hand and a cabana boy in the other. Closer to forty-five days if everything went her way.

Her way meant that her nephew seamlessly took over the business. She smiled and nodded as the meeting moved from accounting to processing and checked the clock at the back of the room. Her nephew had texted that his flight was delayed, but he hoped to arrive at the office before the end of the staff meeting. He was cutting it close. There were only Jared’s report and her announcement left on the agenda and her announcement would be uninspired if her nephew didn’t make it.

The sound of voices in the hallway disrupted her thoughts and there was a quiet knock at the door. A man peeked in and smiled when he saw Dee at the table. The room silently stared at the intruder. “Sorry,” he said excusing himself for interrupting.

Dee stood and held out her hand to him. “Jensen! Welcome!” She turned to her staff once Jensen was by her side. “Everyone, this is my nephew, Jensen Ackles. Jensen this is my wonderful staff. You’ll meet each of them in just a moment. Right now Jared is reporting on the event calendar for the season.”

Jensen pulled up a vacant chair and sat next to his aunt. Putting on a friendly smile, he nodded to Jared. “Sorry for interrupting. Please continue.”

While Dee made her introduction, Jared had been openly staring at her nephew. He had never seen anyone so gorgeous. Jensen had perfectly styled light brown hair that begged to have fingers comb through it, broad shoulders, green eyes and the most kissable lips Jared had ever seen. Jared was aware he should be doing something, saying something, but it took all his will not to climb over the table and into Jensen’s lap.

“You were telling us about Thanksgiving,” Dee reminded him.

Jared shook his head to erase thoughts of her sexy nephew and looked at his tablet.

“Right. Thanksgiving.” He cleared his throat and said, “We’re still short volunteers for dinner at St. Ben’s, but the donations are right on track. Volunteers are in place for Black Friday’s toy drive, but I could use a hand back here at the end of the event. The Washington wedding is complete except for finishing touches that day. The holiday parties scheduled for the first weekend in December have everything they need, but I’ll need help at the Richfield Auto party.” He glanced up from his tablet because Jensen had his hand raised. Confused, Jared’s brows knit together. “Yeah? I mean, yes, Mr. Ackles?”

Jensen shifted nervously in his seat. “Please call me Jensen and uh, I’m in or down or whatever you want to call it. I can do Thanksgiving and Black Friday. I don’t know what you need for the auto party, but I’m sure I can help with that, too,” he offered with a shy smile.

Jared looked from him to Dee and back. This guy would seriously volunteer at a soup kitchen? “Uh, yeah, sure. If you want to help out, we can always use more donations --”

“You said volunteers,” Jensen clarified. “I’m volunteering to help. These people shouldn't miss their Thanksgiving.”

Dee smiled at her nephew. “But Jensen, aren’t you coming to mine?”

Jensen returned her smile. “Sure Aunt Dee, but we can do both.”

She patted Jensen’s hand and looked back at Jared. “What time do you want Jensen and me to be at St. Ben’s, Jared?”

“They serve dinner from three to five. You’ll have to get there by two thirty to get your assignment.” Jared hoped his amazement didn’t carry over into his voice.

Smiling at his aunt, Jensen said, “We can do that, right Aunt Dee?”

“You bet we can,” she replied, matching Jensen’s enthusiasm. At that moment, she was certain her decision was right. “What else do you have for us, Jared?”

“Well, the Christmas parade is this Saturday at noon. I’ll need everyone to be at their posts by ten. Food bank staff needs to remember that they work an hour after the parade.” He scrolled through his agenda. “That’s it for me, Dee.”

“Alright.” Dee took a deep breath and rose from her chair. She regarded her staff and took strength from their friendly faces. “I built this company from a sad excuse of a wedding deejay to the premiere event planning company in the tri-county area.”

She glanced at Jared. “With the help, hard work and dedication of the people in this room, my company has grown to be the most in-demand event planners in the state. Being selected to organize the Governor’s Inauguration in January proves that.”The staff clapped at that announcement and Jared received a pat on the back from some of his co-workers.

“However,” she continued, “I have decided to retire at the end of the year.”

Jensen noticed that the only person not stunned by that news was Jared. His aunt paused for a moment to let the news settle, then she raised a hand to calm the room and regain her staff’s attention.

“Now don’t worry, I’m not planning on closing up shop, I’m merely handing the reins to an accomplished young man. I’m hoping all of you will do your best to help with the transition and answer any questions Jensen may have as he takes over my day-to-day duties.” Dee smiled at her nephew. “Now Jensen, would you care to say a few words?”

Jensen cleared his throat and stood. “Thank you, Aunt Dee. My plan for the immediate future…”

Jared didn’t hear Jensen’s plan. The ringing in his ears was too loud. So was the voice in his head repeating: **What the fuck?! What the actual fuck?!** There was polite laughter from his coworkers but then the evil pretty boy spoke again and the rage inside Jared boiled.

Excitement bubbled within Kathryn as she followed Jared into his office after the staff meeting. “Oh my god, how was it? And who was that hot guy that walked in towards the end? Katie swears she recognized him like he’s someone famous, but I’d remember a guy that hot.”

“That was Jensen Ackles, Dee’s nephew. The new president of the company.” Jared slammed his desk drawer and surveyed his desk for something to destroy.

Kathryn’s mouth fell open. “That nepotistic bitch! After everything you’ve done for this place? Is she senile?” She sat in the chair across from him. “What are you going to do? Are you quitting?”

Jared paused and studied Kathryn as if her face held the answers he sought. Then he sneered. “Yeah, I am. Fuck her, fuck her pretty boy nephew. I am better at this job than they are. By this time next year, no one will remember Wallace Entertainment.”

“You’re going to open your own company?”

Jared considered it for a moment. “Why not? I’ve got a killer resume and I wouldn’t have the overhead of this place. Let them try to get through the holidays without me.” He couldn’t start over alone. He and Kathryn were a well-oiled machine. “You want to come with me?”

While Jared ranted, Kathryn slumped in her chair. She adored Jared and would quit with him but that meant giving up benefits and her chance to go the Governor’s Ball. Her phone chimed and she read the text to him instead of answering his question. “Dee wants to see you in her office.”

Jared stood and straightened his shoulders. “Good. I can rip this job off like a bandaid and be out of here by lunch.”

Dee greeted Jared at her office door, taking his hand and leading him to a comfy overstuffed chair.

“Jared, I’m so glad you had time to meet with us. I couldn’t wait to give you the news, but Jensen thought we should do this privately. He didn’t want the others to think I was playing favorites.” She winked at him and turned to a cart full of beverages and baked goods. “Can I get you anything, Jared? Juice, coffee, pastry?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Dee nodded and continued, “Of course, you’re busy and we don’t want to waste your time, but this is important.” She sat at her desk. “Jensen and I discussed your role with the company and we want to give you a promotion.”

Jared sat back in his chair as a bit of his ire faded.

“But we can’t,” Jensen added. Again, Jared fought the urge to crawl over the table, though this time it was to strangle the guy, not straddle him. “At least not now.”

Dee noticed the indignant glare from Jared and quickly interjected. “What we can do is give you the benefits of a promotion without giving you the title.”

Jared looked from one to the other in utter confusion. “What? I’m promoted without being promoted?”

“Yes, sort of,” Dee began. “While talking with Jensen about taking over the company, we decided to make changes. Currently, we’re a sole proprietorship. Jensen is turning us into a corporation.”

“Until we make the restructuring legal, and file the paperwork, we can’t give you a title,” Jensen explained. “But you’re far too valuable to be just ‘Jared Padalecki, Event Planner Extraordinaire’. And making you a vice president now would just be silly when we’re restructuring at the start of the new fiscal year in a month.”

“But in January we’d like you to accept the title of Chief Creative Director.” Dee turned to Jensen and asked, “Was it ‘director’ or ‘manager’?”

He shrugged.“I think it was director, but we batted around so many titles I can’t remember what we landed on.” He turned to Jared. “What I can tell you is that you will be compensated as a director beginning immediately. If you want a different title, we can work something out. Ultimately every creative decision would go through you.”

Jared smiled to himself. For the next six weeks he’d be paid to see if he liked working with the nephew. If he didn’t, the new position gave him the money and time to set up his own place. “Thank you. I appreciate that you acknowledge my accomplishments. I look forward to working with you, Jensen.” He stood, shook Jensen’s hand then turned to Dee. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I have a very demanding schedule.”

“Do you mind if I go with you?” Jensen asked, following Jared to the door. “I’d like to address the bullpen and I’d rather do it sooner than later.”

“You’re the boss. You can do whatever you want,” Jared replied with a saccharine smile.

Jensen shot a worried glance at his aunt who gave him an encouraging nod in response.

As they approached the open concept workspace, Jensen broke the silence. “Is there anyone I should avoid? Any workplace drama?”

 _Why spoil my fun?_ Jared mused and answered, “No, everyone is really friendly and open. The staff is like family.”

A feeling that he was being set up wormed through Jensen. But Jared had no reason to set him up, he had just given the guy a huge raise. And yet the guy seemed stand-offish. Jared and Jensen separated once they entered the bullpen. Jared walked toward his office and Jensen strode to the center of the room.

“Excuse me everyone. Could I have your attention?” Jensen waited a moment until nearly every eye was on him. “Hello. I’m Jensen Ackles. Yes, that Jensen Ackles. If you recognize me or have googled me, I’d like to say a few words to address the elephant in the room. Yes, I was on that tv show and that other crappy tv show and no I didn’t date that guy and I’m not married to that woman. Those photos are photoshopped. If you haven’t googled me, then you are in for a treat when you finally get around to it. Yes, those brick pants are real, I have them in a vault for safekeeping. And I cringe at the very thought of the cowboy hat pictures.” Stifled laughter floated around the room and he pointed towards it. “Those people know what I’m talking about.”

“However, what you might not find on google is that I earned my MBA at UCLA and I am Dee Wallace’s nephew.” He continued, “Aunt Dee is retiring in January and she is handing the operation of this company over to me.” Jensen waited a beat for his employees to absorb that information. He looked for Jared, hoping to find a friendly face but the man was a complete blank. With a slight tremor he continued. “I’m sure you’re concerned about how these changes will affect you. Let me assure you that for the near future your jobs will remain the same. However, all of you, from senior staff to the most junior employee, will receive a raise.” A couple loud cheers broke out and startled Jensen.

"At the start of the next fiscal year Wallace Entertainment will be incorporated. All of you will get a memo explaining the full details as soon as possible. If you have questions that need immediate attention, I’m setting up a temporary desk in the annex and I’ll be happy to answer what I can. Um, I guess that’s it. Thanks for listening. I’ll let you get back to the work you do that makes this company so successful." With a small nod and a nervous smile he left the room.

The instant Jensen was out of earshot, the staff began to gossip. Each trying to top the other with the most scintillating items they uncovered about their new boss. Jared turned to Kathryn and whispered, “I need you to do a real estate search for office space. Try to find one attached to a small warehouse.”

“On it, boss,” Kathryn nodded, but she’d much rather be gossiping with the others.

Jared shut his office door and began his own research on Jensen Ackles. Was he the only one who had never heard of the man? Twenty minutes later Jared had found the brick pants and the cowboy hat pictures, but he also found so much more. There was a woman claiming to be Jensen’s wife, but she was a stalker. Jensen’s last co-star had a breakdown, and some fans blamed it on Jensen. Their show was subsequently cancelled. It was at least part of the reason Jensen was available to run the company.

Something about the co-star pinged Jared’s radar. He vaguely recalled a scandal surrounding the young man. Jared did a quick image search and his screen filled with pictures of them together. Some were from the show or paid public appearances and a few were clearly photoshopped, but many showed them with their arms around each other. These two did not recognize personal space. Jared did more cyber detective work and landed on a gossip site that claimed Jensen and Colton Haynes were living together and much more than friends and co-stars. But when Jensen made a homophobic comment in public, Colton had a nervous breakdown and quit the show. The site didn’t repeat the comment, so Jared wasn’t sure what Jensen said, but Jared assumed it must have been awful.

Jared glared at Jensen’s image on the screen. “He’s either a homophobic asshole or so deep in the closet he’s found Narnia.”

He read the search suggestions and found the pair had homoerotic fan fiction written about them and their characters. Jared giggled to himself and sent the link to his phone. He definitely wanted to read those in the privacy of his home.

At his tiny desk in the annex, Jensen took a moment to check his personal texts. He found several from the best friend he left behind. His co-star that became like the little brother he never had, Colton Haynes.

**_Miss you man._ **

**_Where did you buy that good coffee? The stuff from that one Sunday remember?_ **

**_You can do this Jensen. They will love you. If you handled the network assholes, you can handle this._ **

**_You’re the smartest guy I know. Sure I don’t know many people but... you’re smart enough to do this._ **

**_Did I tell you I miss you?_ **

Jensen smiled though his heart ached. Deep down he knew Colton would be fine, but it’s difficult to let go of that kind of concern after letting it consume the past year of his life.

**_Miss you, too. The coffee was DD breakfast blend. I suck at this job and they hate me. I took your advice and told them about the brick pants and cowboy hat. Call me tonight._ **

Jensen rocked back in his chair. Aunt Dee had sung Jared’s praises since she hired the man. Apparently, he was a genius, capable of working miracles even with a tiny budget. Jared had saved her sanity. However, she never mentioned his stellar good looks and he looked like a Greek god wrapped in business casual. Jensen allowed himself a moment to contemplate the man’s arms based on the muscular bit that peeked out from the rolled up sleeves. Jared’s broad shoulders made him more of a Dorito than Chris Evans.

Jensen thought Jared’s eyes sparkled as he talked in the staff meeting, but they looked resentful in Dee’s office. Jared was gorgeous but he definitely wasn’t a fan of Jensen.

Jensen groaned to himself. He didn’t have time to daydream about Jared. He shouldn’t think twice about the man until the company was running smoothly.

Jensen opened his business plan pdf and printed the pages he thought he’d need for his meeting with human resources. It was going to be a long afternoon.

The week passed quickly. Jensen met with every department and as many employees as possible. The only department he didn’t meet with was also the one his aunt said was the most important: Jared’s. The Christmas Parade consumed every minute of Jared's time, but by Thursday afternoon, Jensen was sure the man was purposefully avoiding him. Jensen didn’t want to bother Jared, but he needed to set an appointment to talk with him.

Kathryn’s desk was covered in colored paper indicating parade line up and locations and participants. Behind her desk was a white board with a calendar of events and about a thousand post it notes. Jensen stood back trying to take it all in. The schedule looked impossible. No wonder Jared hadn’t been able to see him. Perhaps he needed to reassign some staff or even hire new staff to help Jared and his assistant for the next month.

He was about to walk away when Jared’s office door opened and Kathryn flew out. She had a pencil in her mouth, another behind her ear, her clothes looked slept in and her eyes flicked from her phone to her desk. From the office, they heard Jared saying, “Yes, sheriff, the businesses along that part of the route handle the road closures…. Yes, that would be great, thank you.”

Kathryn made a note before noticing Jensen. She removed the pencils and brushed a hand over her shirt. “Mr. Ackles. How can I help you?” She subtly shut Jared’s door, her expression politely said ‘I’m happy to see you but I’m swamped.’

“First, don’t call me Mr. Ackles. Jensen is fine. And I need to speak to you and Jared.” With wide panicked eyes, she glanced at the office door. Jensen quickly added, “Not now. I’m hoping you can put me on the schedule for next week.”

She took a breath and nodded. “Of course. Uh,” she looked at the whiteboard and then her phone. “Monday at seven a.m. or five thirty. Which works for you? Although I should warn you that the five thirty will probably disappear due to other meetings running over.”

“Seven a.m.?”

“That’s all he has next week.” Her strained smile said ‘hurry up’.

“Okay. Monday seven a.m.. Thank you.”

The words had barely left Jensen’s mouth when cursing could be heard from Jared’s office followed by him yelling, “Kathryn!” The assistant spun on her heel to attend to her boss.

Thinking they needed help sooner rather than later, Jensen called HR to see if any staff could be reassigned. As he waited for their answer, he overheard Jared talking.

“The entire thing smashed to bits.” Kathryn gasped. “No one was seriously hurt. The truck driver was taken to the hospital and the animals are spooked but alive. However, we’re screwed. Santa’s the whole point. Without him it’s not a Christmas parade.”

Jensen tentatively knocked on the door frame. “Sorry to eavesdrop but I can help with Santa Claus.”

Skeptically, Jared smirked at Jensen. “Ours had eight reindeer and a sleigh. You have that laying around somewhere?”

Duly rebuked Jensen ducked his head. “No.” But he could offer what he had. “I have a Santa and a sleigh. How about we use horses and tell the crowd the reindeer are resting up for their big flight?”

Jared shook his head. “I don’t think so. We have a certain level of authenticity and professionalism. We can’t have some sidewalk Santa you pull off the street and throw on a ratty wagon.”

Before he could argue, Kathryn showed Jensen pictures from previous parades. “Damn, that does look like the real deal.” He looked from Kathryn to Jared. “Well my offer still stands. It won’t be a sidewalk Santa, he’s a professional. And sure, horses aren’t reindeer, but if you can’t find anything else, please let me help."

Jared sighed. “Thank you Mr. Ackles. We’ll call if we need you. I’ve got to get back to work.”

Knowing he was dismissed, Jensen left, but he didn’t give up. He scrolled through his phone and called in some favors.

Jared grimaced at the distaste his boss left in his mouth. What a narcissistic asshole. Did Ackles really think Jared couldn’t do his job? “Kathryn, please tell me you found some office space. I gotta get out of here.”

Kathryn sighed. “I did, but with your schedule I thought it best to wait until after Thanksgiving to make an appointment.”

Glaring at the spot Jensen just vacated Jared growled, “I don’t know if I can wait that long.”

By six o’clock that evening Jared hadn’t found a Santa or a sleigh that was available that Saturday. He hated admitting defeat. He hated asking Ackles for help. If it wasn’t for his reputation as the best in the state, Jared would let this last parade crumble. He swallowed his pride and called Jensen. “If your Santa and sleigh are still available, send me a picture of them. I’ll see if changes are needed for the costume or sleigh.”

Jared looked at the images Jensen sent and was impressed. The Santa costume was gorgeous, and the sleigh was decent. Jensen also included pictures of the horses. And though it made him eat crow, Jared told Jensen to hire them.

On Saturday the parade participants came together perfectly. The floats, the marching bands, the Shriners in their tiny cars and Jensen’s Santa Claus looked even better in person. There was only one problem that Jared noticed; neither Dee nor Jensen were there. Dee Wallace had never missed the parade. After getting the first marching band started on the route, Jared covered the mouthpiece of his headset and whispered to Kathryn, “Where the hell is Dee? She never misses the Christmas parade.”

Kathryn scrolled through her tablet. “She’s heading up the volunteers at the food drive.”

Jared spun to stare at her. Complete shock covered his face. “She’s what? The food drive?”

Kathryn shrugged. “I know, it’s weird, but that’s where she is.”

“Is Jensen with her?”

Kathryn checked her tablet again. “He’s not listed. I have no idea where he is.”

Jared turned back to the parade. “He probably assumes a parade is beneath him.”

“At least his Santa looks good,” Kathryn added before she signaled the nutcrackers to march. “He even brought elves that hand out candy along the route.”

When the parade was over, Jared joined the volunteers at the food bank. The moment Dee saw him she wrapped him in a hug. “Jared! We watched the coverage on channel six. That was the best parade ever! You should be so proud.”

Jared glowed under her attention for a moment before he remembered her nephew. “Too bad Jensen missed it. Where is he?”

Dee looked around. “I think he’s in there.” She pointed to a room towards the back.

Slightly deflated that he couldn’t dwell in his anger, Jared left to thank Jensen for the Santa and sleigh. When he entered the room, he found Santa stripped down to his skivvies and fat suit top. He shut the door immediately. “Sorry. I was--”

It didn’t seem to phase the man. “Don’t worry, I’m used to changing in front of people.” He unstrapped the fat suit, set it on the small table and pulled a shirt from a bag. “Aunt Dee said the parade was awesome. It looked like you had a great turnout.”

Jared wanted to reply but he was wrapping his head around the fact that Jensen had been Santa. Jensen had not only been there, he had been the star of the parade. Which okay, Jared could almost get there but then Jensen was nearly naked in front of him. It took all his brain power to not lick the man’s chest.

The odd expression on Jared’s face made Jensen laugh. “Oh I forgot.” He removed the beard and white eyebrows. When he pulled the shirt over his head, he broke Jared’s stare.

“I, uh, I want to thank you for Santa and the sleigh. He’s, uh, you, I mean, Santa’s always the highlight of the parade.”

“I should thank you. I had no idea it would be so much fun.” Jensen pulled on a pair of jeans and stepped into some shoes. His grin was intoxicating and Jared felt himself weakening. “So what do you do after you're done with the food bank?”

Jared knew Jensen was only asking for information, he wasn’t asking him out. A small corner of his heart almost warmed to the man... but then the part of him containing his sense of self-preservation kicked in, reminding him that Jensen was a homophobic asshole. Jared schooled his features and turned away. "I go back to work," he responded. "Excuse me."

In the main room, Jared and Kathryn met at a small table and discussed their notes for the parade. Even if they would not be with Dee’s company, Jared hoped to use the parade’s success to bolster his resume.

Jensen helped the other volunteers pack the food donations and load them onto the food bank’s truck. “Do I know you from somewhere?” another volunteer asked Jensen after handing him a box. “You volunteer with Dee’s group before?”

Jensen smiled to cover his panic at being recognized. “I’m Dee’s nephew. I helped out years ago but last time we talked I was dressed as Santa.”

The man laughed. “Oh, that was you under all that stuff! I knew you looked familiar.”

“Jensen was Santa Claus?!” Kathryn whispered to Jared in shock looking from Jensen back to Jared.

“Yeah. He just changed out of the costume a minute ago,” Jared answered sounding very uninterested.

“I would have paid to see that,” she said under her breath.

Jared looked confused. “See what?” he asked matching her hushed voice.

“Jensen naked or nearly naked.” She blushed when she noticed Jared’s wide eyed surprise at her statement. “What? Don’t give me that. He’s hot and I have a pulse.”

Jared did his best to appear annoyed but the image of Jensen in nothing but his underwear flashed in his mind. He had to agree, Jensen was easy on the eyes. But just because the man was attractive didn’t mean he wasn’t an asshole.

Back in his apartment for the night, Jared poured himself a glass of wine and relaxed back into his couch. He was tired of noise so he kept the television off. Instead, he picked up his kindle to read the latest mystery in his library. The main character’s resemblance to Jensen made images of the man come unbidden to Jared’s mind. By the end of the chapter, Jared was so distracted he put aside his kindle and drained his wine.

He couldn’t relax with Jensen on his mind. Or could he? He grabbed his phone and sent the fan fiction link to his kindle. What better way to relax than read mocking stories of his rival? Jared scrolled through the page trying to decide what to read when he realized there were over eighty thousand different stories. He narrowed his choices by word count deciding not to spend his whole evening with poorly written stories about a person he didn’t even like. He didn’t understand the abbreviations the authors used but chose a three thousand word pwp rated E (for everyone?) as his starting point.

When he finished, Jared was practically panting. The room temperature had risen significantly, and he was almost hard. ‘This is like free porn!’ he thought to himself. ‘How can this exist?’ It wasn’t at all like he’d been expecting. It was well written, emotional, and the sex was scorching and he had eighty thousand more entries to read.

Jared read another and palmed his dick through his pants before he finished it. He’d never be able to look Jensen in the eye again. If he read another story that mentioned Jensen’s scratchy voice and had him talking dirty while he bent Colton over and fucked him, Jared would lose it. He unzipped and stroked himself. This was the worst idea he ever had. As his hand pumped his hardening dick, he groaned and thought, ‘or the best.’


	2. Chapter 2

At seven a.m. Monday morning, Jensen sat on the corner of Kathryn’s desk, listening to her talk about her weekend. As she chatted, she booted up her computer and took the phone off voicemail. She then pulled up her schedule and made sure her devices synced.

Jensen looked around the empty bullpen. “Are you always here this early or is this something that only happens around the holidays?”

Kathryn nodded, taking a sip from her coffee. “It’s like this twice a year. November and December for the holidays and May and June for weddings and graduations.”

Jensen nodded. “Would you like some help?”

Puzzled, Kathryn’s face wrinkled in confusion. What did he think she needed help with? Before she could ask, Jared arrived and breezed into his office without even saying as much as ‘Hello’. He sat at his desk and took a calming breath to let his brain separate fiction Jensen from the man outside his office. Once he felt under control, he joined them at Kathryn’s desk. “Morning, Kathryn said you wanted to see me.”

Jensen smiled pleasantly. “Both of you actually. Can we use your office?”

Jared stepped aside to allow them to enter and took his seat behind his desk. Jensen didn’t sit. Instead he leaned against Jared’s work table, careful not to disturb the papers covering it.

“Congratulations on another wonderful parade, my aunt can’t stop raving about it.” Kathryn smiled at the praise, but Jared merely nodded. “I know you two are extremely busy so I won’t take up much of your time. You two work so well together it’s like you read each other’s minds, but I don’t understand why your department is so understaffed. I’d like to reassign some staff to help you or even hire a few people to ease the load.”

Kathryn clenched her jaw. Training new people would slow them down. As if Jensen guessed her concern, he added, “You’re too busy to train a sufficient staff, but perhaps you could give them some of the menial tasks like, I don’t know, picking things up at a vendor or the printers.” He looked from Kathryn to Jared. “I want to make your lives easier. If this is a horrible idea, just tell me.”

Jared sighed. Did Jensen have to wear a cashmere sweater that molded to his shoulders and brought out the color of his eyes? How was anyone expected to pay attention to what he said? He looked at Kathryn who seemed to say _why not_ and forced himself to meet Jensen’s eyes. “Sure, I guess a gopher would help. Perhaps someone from accounting to help with receipts, but we reserve the right to fire them if they don’t work out.”

Taken aback Jensen argued, “Not fire them. I mean, you can tell them they’re not working out for your needs or whatever. But I don’t want anyone fired before the holidays.”

Jared nodded. “I meant fired from our department.”

“Okay,” Jensen seemed relieved. “I’ll talk to HR and see who they think would be the best fit. And then on a private note, I have a friend that would like to help out on Thanksgiving.”

Jared sat up straight. “I don’t think so. Reporters often show up to do their Thanksgiving human interest story. I don’t want it to become a Hollywood thing. It should be about the shelter and the people.”

Jensen pursed his lips in thought. “What if we stay out of sight? Maybe work in the kitchen instead of serving? We won’t cause a scene and we’ll still be able to help out.”

“I guess that wouldn’t be too awful. It could work.” Jared relented and got a brilliant smile from Jensen as a reward.

Saint Benedict’s hall was noisy with people celebrating Thanksgiving when Jared arrived. His family celebrated a little later in the day, giving him time to check on the volunteers at the church. Dee was strolling between tables offering refills of coffee or milk. She looked years younger in her casual clothes and her smile was genuine and bright. “Jared!” she called when she saw him. “I’m so glad to see you. Happy Thanksgiving!” She set the carafes on a small table and hugged him.

“Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, Dee. Looks like everything is running smoothly.”

“It is. I had forgotten how enjoyable this event is. I’m so glad Jensen volunteered us.”

Jared glanced at the serving line and didn’t see her nephew. “Are Jensen and his friend in the kitchen?”

“Those two.” Dee shook her head fondly. “They have had the sisters in stitches all afternoon!”

“Really? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sister Abigail smile.”

Torn between curiosity to see Jensen and his friend and his dislike of the man, Jared took a quick walk around the dining hall gathering dirty dishes in a bin to take to the kitchen. He pushed open the door and heard a falsetto voice say, “Oh Jensen, you’re so big and strong. Can you help me with this?”

“Dude, don’t hate because the sisters love me more, who could blame them? I’m sure they’d be fawning all over you if you hadn’t gone all bleach blonde” Jensen looked up from his post of refilling the potatoes and smiled at Jared. “Hey.”

“Please, I make this look good,” the blonde washing dishes snapped back.

“Dishes?” Jared asked lifting his bin and indicating it was full of things needing washing.

Jensen nodded and turned to the bleach blonde washing dishes. “Colton, tell Jared where you want the next load of dishes.”

Colton turned and he eyes went wide. “Sweet Jesus --”

“Mr. Haynes, don’t make me get my ruler,” Sister Abigail warned as she moved around Jared to get another serving dish filled with vegetables.

Blushing crimson, Colton apologized, “Sorry Sister Abigail. Jesus is sweet though, can’t argue with that.”

The nun raised a disapproving brow at him and left. Jensen shook his head. “And you wonder why they like me more.”

Colton ignored Jensen and, finally addressing Jared, said, “Put that stuff down over here.” He took off his pink dish washing gloves and held out a hand to Jared. “I’m Colton, nice to meet you.”

Jared set the bin down and swallowed dryly at the attractive man before him. “Jared, nice to meet you, too.” He shook Colton’s hand and frowned at the dampness left behind.

“Oh, sorry about that.” Colton tossed him a towel.

“No, problem.” Having the chance to really look at Colton, Jared’s eyes widened. “You’re Colton Haynes. I didn’t know you two were friends,” he blurted out, blushing with embarrassment immediately.

Jensen smirked at Colton and quietly said, “Told you, not a fan.”

Colton chuckled and pulled his glove back on. “Yep, Jensen’s been my bestie for years. Right, Jens?”

“Brother from another mother,” Jensen replied as he hefted the tray of potatoes and headed to the main room.

Jared remained flustered. He remembered reading the gossip site that said the show was cancelled because Jensen and Colton couldn’t get along. If that was true why was Colton spending Thanksgiving with Jensen? A stove timer sounded, preventing Jared from asking questions. He went over to the oven asking, “Should I take whatever it is out?”

“Yeah,” Colton called over his shoulder. “I think it’s sweet potatoes. Oh, don’t use the--”

“Yeowch!” Jared dropped the pan onto the stovetop and flapped his burned hand in the air.

“--green mitt,” Colton said as he turned to rush to Jared’s aid. He held Jared’s hand in his and examined the burned skin. “Shit, that’s gotta hurt. Let’s get ice on that.” He led Jared to a small table and seated him.

Jensen walked in asking if the sweet potatoes were ready and saw Colton and Jared huddled together. An unexpected pang of jealousy hit him until Colton said, “Get some ice.”

Jensen took ice from the freezer, put it in a bag, then slammed it against the counter to crush it. Jensen gently placed it over the burn. “It’s not that bad,” Jared said, wincing at the contact.

“Let me see.” Jensen lifted the ice off the injury and hissed. “Just sit tight and keep the ice on it.” He turned to Colton. “Was it the green --”

Colton nodded.

“I’m throwing that thing out. If Sister Mary Catherine has a problem with that, I was going to hell anyway.” Jensen tossed the green mitt in the trash, scooped the sweet potatoes into another dish, cleaned the ones that spilled and took the dish to the serving room.

Colton watched him leave then turned to Jared. “Don’t believe the internet when it comes to Jensen, or well anything, I guess. But especially not the celebrity gossip sites. They’re all lies. Jensen’s a cool guy.”

Jared nodded. “I never read that stuff.”

Colton’s expression said he didn’t believe him, but he let it go. “You checked out the pictures, though, right?”

Jared thought of the photoshopped pictures of Jensen and Colton having sex and struggled to hide his rising color. “The, uh, do you mean --”

“The brick pants, the cowboy hat... there’s plenty more ridiculous ones, but those are my favorites.”

Jared smiled, “Those are pretty awesome.”

Jensen and Sister Abigail returned to the kitchen and Jensen stamped down another flame of jealousy when he saw Colton was still tending to Jared. “Jared, what happened?” the sister asked.

“Burned my hand on the potatoes,” Jared replied.

The nun scowled. “Colton, Jared’s a big boy, he can take care of himself, get back to the dishes.” She bustled over to them.

“Yes, ma’am.”

The nun took a look at Jared’s burn and said, “Don’t look too bad. Couple more minutes with the ice and you’ll be good as new.” She then turned to Jensen. “Since Jared is out of commission, be a dear and get some of your other volunteers to bus the tables.”

“Of course.” Jensen gave Colton and Jared a small smile and left the kitchen again.

“Are you coming to Aunt Dee’s after this?” Colton asked Jared over his shoulder as he scrubbed a pan.

“No, I’m going to my folks.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. I know Dee is having people over. Maybe you can stop by when you’re done at your parents.” He set the pan in the drying rack and loaded the dishwasher.

“Yeah, maybe.” Jared scowled at his burn. He hadn’t been invited to Dee’s get together. The man he blamed for that little oversight was holding the kitchen door open for two volunteers with arms full of dirty dishes.

Exhausted from being on his feet for hours, Colton crashed onto Jensen’s bed the moment it came into sight. “Volunteering is hard. I’m gonna sleep for hours.”

Jensen sat next to him and tousled his hair. “No you’re not. Dee’s serving dinner in an hour.”

“Fine. Wake me up when it’s ready,” Colton whined, though the pillow muffled his words.

“I thought you were here to hang out with me, not sleep.”

Colton rolled over. “Ugh, I don’t need the guilt.”

Jensen would tease him but he took one look as his friend’s dirty shirt and groaned. “Dude, couldn’t you change your shirt before you laid down on my bed? If you got my bed all gross, I’ll --”

“You wish I got your bed gross.”

Amused, Jensen shook his head. “I seem to remember it was _you_ who wanted _me_ to get dirty in bed.”

Colton smiled and sighed. “Yes, perhaps when I was young and foolish I spent a minute crushing on my costar. But now I have my sights on grown up attractions.”

Jensen chuckled. “Alright. Who is your next victim?”

Colton tore off his dirty shirt as he stood. “Well, I’m definitely putting Jared on my Christmas list.”

Jensen laughed. “You think you were that good this year?”

“I invited him over,” Colton replied nonchalantly.

“You did? What did he say? Is he coming over?”

Colton squinted at Jensen. “He said he’s going to his mom’s but maybe he’d stop by after.”

Jensen looked at his filthy clothes. “I better get out of these clothes and jump in the shower.”

“You gotta make yourself pretty ‘cause Jared’s coming over?” Colton teased.

“I was born pretty. I’m just getting clean.” He tossed his shirt into the hamper. “You should go first. It will take you longer to look as good as me. And if you’re trying to get Jared, you will need all the help you can get.”

When dinner was over, and the clean up was done and the guests had left, Dee kissed Jensen and Colton and left them for the comfort of her bed. Jensen poured Colton and himself another glass of wine and they settled on the couch to watch _It’s a Wonderful Life_.

Warm and relaxed with wine, Colton turned on the couch and studied his friend. “If you could change your life like this guy, what would you change?”

Jensen shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe not be gay. That would make my life hella easier.” Colton ‘mmm’ed in agreement and Jensen turned the question on him. “What would you do?”

“I’d make Sean love you back.” He closed his eyes and his head lolled back against the couch.

“Cole.” Jensen’s voice was tinged with regret but Colton waved it off.

“Jen, last year would have been easier. All that bullshit with the network and the hypocrisy of Hollywood.” He sat up and looked at his friend. “No, that’s what I would have changed. They say they’re accepting until they’re asked to accept someone. Then they’re all--”

“Hey,” Jensen put his hand on Colton’s arm to stop his rant. “That’s all over. Hollywood has the attention span of a gnat and your new show kicks ass.”

Colton grinned. “It does. It’s not as much fun without you, though.”

“Duh, but brightside, no more ulcers.”

“True, but what about you? Is being Mr. Businessman really what you want to do?”

Jensen turned the question over in his mind. “Yeah. The people are great and Aunt Dee deserves a good life. She was the only family that supported me. From when I came out to when I wanted to act, Aunt Dee was behind me. My parents? Pfft. But Dee loved me and supported me. She never treated me any differently. Now it’s my turn to pay her back.”

“You don’t want to act anymore?”

“Nope.” He yawned. “Maybe I’ll direct.”

“What about dating? You gonna put yourself out there?”

“I don’t know. Dating is hard.”

Colton awoke with a mischievous sparkle in his eye.

“Jensen, you wanna really bring in the toys for this program you’re running?” he asked, helping himself to the last of the coffee.

Jensen studied him for a minute before answering. “I have a feeling I’m going to regret this.”

Jared nearly drove off the road when he heard the toys for tots live promo on the radio. No one had told him about it and no one had asked for his approval. In order to crush his rising temper, Jared pulled over to call Kathryn. "Did you know anything about this?" he barked into his phone.

"About what? And good morning to you too, Jared." She normally took his snark in good humor but as this was her day to sleep in, she snapped back. 

“Jensen and the stunt he’s pulling with the toy drive.”

“Oh my god, Jared, what is he doing?” Kathryn squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her blanket over her head. “Jared, it’s my day off. I’m supposed to sleep until noon.”

“Sorry, but the guy on the radio just said that everyone who donates a toy at the Wallace Entertainment warehouse can get an autograph or picture with Colton Haynes.”

Kathryn’s brain froze. _Colton Haynes would be at her work? Of all the days to sleep in_ , she thought. “Well, that should bring in more toys, right?” _Seriously, what was the problem_.

“Yeah, but that’s not the point,” Jared huffed. He knew he was being petty, but … fuck it, he was petty. Jensen told him all ideas were to go through him and no one told him about this change. Had they even thought through things like parking or loading the toys into the truck? “Nevermind, Kathryn. Go back to bed.”

As much as she wanted to sleep in, Kathryn also wanted to meet Colton Haynes.

Jared checked on other toy donation locations before stopping at the warehouse. His temper subsided, letting his Christmas spirit return. Even though Black Friday was hectic and stressful, most of the shoppers he saw were pleasant and generous. He soaked up as much Christmas spirit as possible because he was going to need it the next time he saw Jensen Ackles. 

Jared delayed his arrival at Wallace Entertainment as long as he could. The parking lot was still full when he arrived but he drove to the employee parking by the warehouse entrance. A semi truck and trailer were at the loading dock and Jared could see warehouse manager Ty Olsson directing employees carrying donations. Jared grinned at the Santa hat Ty was wearing. “Ty!” Jared waved to get his attention as he approached.

“Hey, Jay, you’re just in time to help with the heavy stuff,” the manager teased, grinning and waving Jared over.

Inside, Jared was surprised to hear Christmas music playing through the an old sound system. He was even more surprised at the number of employees who volunteered to load the truck. “What’s with the hats?” he asked nodding at the green hats many of them wore.

“They’re my elves,” Ty explained. “Matt just arrived with the donations from the mall and the car dealerships.”

Jared nodded. “Good, so we’re on schedule.”

“No,” Ty chuckled. “Not by a long shot.” At Jared’s annoyed expression, Ty smiled and added, “Hey, the Salvation Army is going to be getting a lot more this year. A lot more. I think it will more than make up for the delay.”

Jared surveyed the room filled with toys, food and clothing and accepted more donations in place of keeping to a schedule. Seeing his co-workers looking so cheerful put a smile on Jared’s face. Then he saw Jensen in a well worn sweatshirt and jeans carrying a large box into the back of the truck. “I thought the movie star was signing autographs.”

“He is,” Ty replied. “Though he’s got to be almost done.” He checked his watch. “They had a whole system for when to stop the line so everyone would get one if they were in line. You should go check it out if you have time.”

“Yeah, I will.” Jared glanced at Jensen again. Why wasn’t he signing autographs?

On his way to the lobby, Jared passed Osric and Adam wheeling large carts filled with donations. “Jared! Oh my god, you should have seen it. We had so many people! It was crazy!” Osric’s enthusiasm was impressive this late in the day.

“Yeah,” Adam agreed. “I don’t know how you know Colton Haynes or how you got him to do this, but dude, he’s been amazing.”

“Great idea, Jared,” Osric said as they continued on their way. “You should be super proud of yourself.”

Jared smiled thinly. _Not my idea, guys, but thanks_.

In the lobby, Jared saw Kathryn and Madison, both in elf hats, helping Colton with the last group of fans. Jared was grateful to be entering from the employee area because it gave him a moment to appreciate Colton’s appearance. He wasn’t in pink gloves and food stained clothes today. The young star looked every bit the GQ model he was in a dark blue sweater that made Jared want to cuddle him -- after doing naughty things with him.

The moment Colton saw him, his eyes lit up and he waved. He signed a picture for a teenage girl and smiled while she took a selfie with him. Then he stood up. “Hold on guys, there’s someone I want you to meet. Jared, come here.” He waved the man over to the table. “Everybody this is my friend, Jared. Without him, none of this would be possible. So let’s give him a nice big round of applause.”

The room of fifty or so fans cheered and Jared blushed. “Colton, I appreciate it, but I’m pretty sure this was just you and Jensen,” he said quietly enough so only Colton heard him.

“Toy drive is all you, my man.” Colton patted Jared’s chest and went back to signing headshots.

Jared scowled at Kathryn and with a tilt of his head called her over. She offered up a weak smile. “Before you call me a traitor, look at him. Seriously, how could I stay home when a man that looks like that is here.”

Jared glared for another second then conceded with a half smile. “If that’s your type…”

Kathryn grabbed his arm and whispered, “He’s your type. You know he’s gay, right? I mean, he’s totally gorgeous but I’m just here to look. Is he with Jensen? ‘Cause if he’s not, you should go for it.”

Flattered by the ego boost, Jared almost smiled, but he understood he wasn’t going to get anywhere with a television star who was only visiting for the weekend. “Stop trying to find me a date and get back to work.”

The warehouse looked like an anthill as the volunteers busily separated donations and then packed crates with toys, food and clothing. Except these ants wore elf hats and sang along to Christmas carols.

“Jared!”

He spun at the sound of his name to see Jensen smiling at him as he approached. “We missed you last night. We needed you in our challenge against my aunt and her friends at trivia. I swear Colton hasn’t cracked a book since grade school.”

Jared smirked unsure why Jensen was acting like they were old friends when they hardly knew each other. “Yeah, well, my family gets everyone together for the holidays so I was expected to be there.”

“I get it. But since you’re here now, I could really use your expertise. I wasn’t expecting such a turn out. I mean, we only announced today that Colton was doing this. I didn’t know we’d need so many volunteers or that we’d be keeping them so long.” Jared stared blankly at him the entire time he spoke making Jensen sense he had done something wrong. “So anyway, I was wondering if I should order pizzas for everybody. Like a thank you? What do you think?”

“So now you want my opinion? You couldn’t ask before changing the toy drive into a Colton Haynes publicity event? You said all creative decisions were to come through me. I don’t give a rat’s --” He bit off his anger and blew out a breath. “I’m sure they’d appreciate pizza if you bought it. Ty knows the place we like to use. Call them now or they will be overwhelmed with the order. Just like all our volunteers are overwhelmed because of the huge change you made last minute.”

Jensen felt like a scolded child. He knew he looked like one, too, since he could feel his face flushing. He lowered his eyes unable to meet Jared’s annoyed glare.“You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about it.” He shook his head at himself. “Shit. First time out of the gate and I fuck it up.” He sighed. “I had no way of contacting you when Colton thought up this little stunt. But that’s not really the point is it? I could have called you from here.” He finally looked in Jared’s eye. “I’m really sorry. I promise I’ll try not to let it happen again.”

Jared smirked in disbelief and side-stepped Jensen.

“I know I already broke my first promise, but I’m new at this.” He wanted to argue his defense further, but Jared didn’t seem interested.

“You brought in a lot of donations,” Jared said, turning back to him. “That’s what’s really important.”

“Yeah.” Jensen wondered if he was forgiven. “The staff really knows their stuff. Ty had a plan right away and Osric’s been to cons so he and I set up the crowd control. Kathryn kept everything running smoothly. I’m really proud of them.”

“Then you should thank them with pizza.”

Jensen assumed that meant they’d be okay. “You’re staying, right?”

Jared gave him a patronizing look before saying, “Free pizza,” and walking away.

The truck was finally loaded and the pizzas were being joyfully devoured when Colton cornered Jared. Making sure he wasn’t being watched, he sidled up to Jared. “Hey, can I have a minute?”

Jared looked up from his plate. _You can have anything…_ “Sure, what can I do for you?”

Colton smirked. “Dude, don’t ask stuff like that. You’ll get my imagination workin’ overtime.”

Appearing unimpressed Jared waited for him to continue, but he moved over allowing Colton to sit next to him. “I need you to look out for Jensen over the holidays. Can you do that for me?”

“Why does he need looking after?” Jared figured he might be gone by then, but he listened anyway.

“The holidays are rough on him. He doesn’t really have family besides his aunt and me so I’m worried about him. A couple years ago, he was in a serious relationship that ended, badly, right before Christmas. Then last year he had my mess to deal with and trust me, it wasn’t easy. ” Colton paused, he hadn’t wanted to spill everything.

“I’ll do what I can. But, before you go, why didn’t he sign autographs with you?”

“‘Cause he’s not Mr. Hollywood any more, he’s Mr. Businessman.”

Dee let Jensen run Monday morning’s staff meeting. After thanking everyone who volunteered over the weekend, he apologized for making the last minute addition of the autograph session. “An idea like that should have gone to our company’s creative director, Jared. I should have sought his input before the event. I’m very lucky our staff stepped up and handled the mess I threw them. On the brightside, I was told that we’ve never had so many donations before.”

“Next on the agenda is a staffing change. Briana Buckmaster will be temporarily moving from accounting to Jared’s department to assist with book keeping. Intern Madison will become Kathryn’s assistant. And Colin from the warehouse will be taking her place in the office.”

Jared was pleasantly surprised by Jensen’s public apology. He was even happier when he returned to his office and found that both Briana and Madison were hard at work.

Kathryn followed him into his office and shut the door behind her. She sat back with a raised brow and knowing smile. 

Jared grabbed the files Briana was going to need but paused when Kathryn kept looking at him expectantly. “What?”

She deflated a little and said, “He made good on his promise. Briana and Madison are a huge help.”

“Good.”

“Are you still looking for office space?”

“Yeah. I’m keeping my options open.”

Kathryn nodded. “Okay. I’m sending the information now. You’re scheduled to meet with Kim Rhodes this afternoon. She’s got a couple properties to show you this week.”

“Thanks.” When his assistant didn’t say anything more, Jared stopped his receipt gathering. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I saw you and Colton whispering together. Anything you’d like to share?” Her sisterly teasing tone made Jared chuckle.

“No.”

“Not gonna kiss and tell, huh.”

Now he laughed. “There’s nothing to tell. It wasn’t like that.”

She stood to leave. “Well there’s still time. I heard him say he wasn’t leaving until this afternoon.”

Jared looked at the schedule on his office wall. “I guess I should pencil him in somewhere.”

“You should. I know you won’t, but you really should.” Before she left she asked, “Do you think he and Jensen ever, you know.”

“No. He said they were like brothers. They’re close but they never dated. Don’t believe everything you read online.”


	3. Chapter 3

After dropping off Colton at the airport, Jensen needed to brighten his mood. Loneliness was settling in even stronger than before his best friend’s visit. He drove to the shopping district because buying his aunt a Christmas present would definitely improve his mood.

The day was bright and the air was crisp enough that Jensen decided to buy himself a scarf while he was out. He looked up and down the street for a men’s store or department store when he saw Jared across the street looking in a shop window.

As Jensen tried to remember if Jared had a client meeting that afternoon, a woman approached him. They shook hands and she unlocked the door to a small storefront. Must be the client, Jensen thought watching Jared disappear into the building. The ‘For Lease’ sign in the window made Jensen wonder if Jared was hired for their grand opening. He’d ask him when they were back at the office.

The rest of Jensen’s week was filled with lawyers. Taking over Wallace Entertainment and changing the business model meant meetings and contracts and lawyers that charge by the hour explaining everything twice. It wore on Jensen’s last nerve until he became a tinderbox. Then Dee decided to generously gift him her house as well. He loved her for it, but it meant more lawyers.

He wanted something to occupy his mind instead of the greedy lawyers and hoped the creative department had something to lift his spirits. Once there, he found the staff staring at some white flowers.

“What are we going to do Jared? These are all wrong! My baby gets married tomorrow and these flowers are all wrong!” The woman’s eyes brimmed with tears.

Jared’s hands were steepled in front of his face as he thought. This was awful. He couldn’t think of a remedy for the situation and by the look on Kathryn’s face, neither could she.

Finally he took the woman’s hand in his. “Mrs. Washington, we will fix this, that’s why you hired us. Don’t worry - by the time your daughter walks down the aisle, we will have the flowers she wants at every table in the reception hall.”

“You can do that, Jared?” she asked with new hope sparkling in her eyes.

“I promise that tomorrow everything will be so lovely that your daughter won’t know there was a problem.”

The bride’s mother left looking relieved and happy. Jared’s team looked at him like he’d just sold their souls. “Jared! Why did you say that?! Where the hell are we going to get these flowers in time for the wedding?!” Kathryn’s whine brought Jensen over.

“What’s going on? Is there --”

“Nothing,” Jared replied at the same time Briana said, “We’ve got the wrong flowers.”

“And Jared promised the mother of the bride that we could fix this in time for the wedding tomorrow,” Kathryn added, too angry to care if Jared thought she was a traitor for saying it.

Jensen looked at Jared expectantly but the man was still staring at the flowers. “Well, Jared, what can I do to help?”

“I think we start with calling every shop within a hundred miles and see if they’ve got what we need,” Briana suggested.

“Okay.” Jensen took out his phone. “I’ll call the ones in town while you guys make the list of out of town florists.” He paused and looked at the flowers. He had no idea what was wrong with them, they were still lovely flowers. “What kind of flowers do we need?”

Madison wrote it down for him while Kathryn printed a list of florists and the acceptable cost of the flowers.

“Briana, can we get our money back for this?”

Jared didn’t let Briana answer. “Is Dee in her office?”

“Yeah,” Jensen replied sounding unsure why Jared asked.

Jared tapped his phone and once Dee answered he put it on speaker and said, “Dee, Richdorf’s screwed us on flowers for the Washington wedding.”

“Charge too much or wrong order?”

“Wrong flowers altogether.”

“What do we need?” she asked sounding tired but not as angry as Jensen was expecting.

“We need you to come down here and show your nephew what to do in this situation,” Jared replied smirking at the confused Jensen.

“He’s there?”

“Right next to me.”

“I’m on my way.”

Jared turned to the others. “Watching Dee Wallace negotiate is a thing of beauty. She’s intimidating, yet charming. I have never seen her fail.” He directed the last part of his statement to Jensen like a challenge.

Dee arrived on a cloud of confidence took a look at the flowers and shook her head.

“Unbelievable. Like we wouldn’t notice the wrong lilies.” She smiled at her nephew and placed her hands gently on his shoulders. “Jensen, sweetie, remember when you were possessed by that demon and were getting revenge on anyone who hurt your family?”

“Yeah?” Jensen wondered why she was bringing up his old show.

“Good. I want you to use that voice and since Mrs. Washington is nearly that angry, you are too. Now, call Richdorf’s, tell them if they don’t get our correct order here in an hour we cancel all future orders.”

“What if they don’t have the flowers?” Jensen asked, worried that Jared wouldn’t be able to keep his promise.

“It’s on them to fix this. They will get those flowers to the reception or they won’t work any events in our town again,” Dee assured him.

Jensen looked at the staff around him and shrugged. “Okay, if you say so.”

“Oh, and ask for the owner, Emily. She knows how important this is.” She squeezed his shoulder and a surge of confidence swept through him. If Dee thought he could do it, he could.

Kathryn handed him the phone, ready with Emily’s direct line. “Give me that list of other florists,” Jensen said to Madison pointing at the list on Kathryn’s desk.

Jensen dialed the number and took a breath. Nothing like doing angry improv in front of a live audience to get the blood pumping. He winked at Aunt Dee who wore the same confident smile she always wore when he performed on stage.

_“Richdorf’s, this is Emily, how can I help you?”_

“Emily, this is Jensen Ackles with Wallace Entertainment and you can help by fixing the garbage you delivered.” His voice had dropped an octave and his face was a mask of anger. Everyone’s eyes widened at the change in his demeanor. However, the voice made Jared’s heart race. “You sent the wrong flowers for the Washington wedding. I expect the correct ones delivered immediately and fifty percent off the bill for the stress you put on the bride’s mother.”

_“What? We can’t do that. We have a contract and our drivers --”_

“ _You_ broke the contract when you delivered the wrong flowers. Did you think we wouldn’t know one lilly from another?” he growled and Jared’s knees weakened. “Kathryn, call Benedict’s and see if they can get us what we need.” He winked at her and smiled but instantly went back into character. “I’ll give you until three o’clock to remedy this situation to my satisfaction or we will cancel all future contracts with you, including the Governor’s Inauguration.”

_“I need more time. My driver’s --”_

“You had weeks for this order. Don’t tell me you need more time when it was your mistake. Fix it. You have until three or we’re finding a better florist.” He looked at Dee whose nod prompted him to hang up.

“Holy shit.” Briana’s reaction was first and triggered the others to begin applauding.

Dee hugged her nephew and said, “That’s how you do it.”

“Will it work?” he asked no longer sounding like the possessed character.

Dee shrugged. “If not, we’ll get some calla lilies from Benedict’s and work them into these arrangements. Then we’ll cut the bill to the Washingtons which will make them so happy they won’t care.” She turned to Briana. “Whatever you do, don’t pay Richdorf’s until we’re satisfied.”

Jensen sought Jared’s reaction but the man was shutting his office door.

Jensen’s whiskey voice, as in those online porn stories, had an inappropriate effect on Jared. He heard it repeating lines like ‘take it all’, ‘swallow it down’, and ‘I’m gonna make you feel it’. Shit, he was rock hard behind his desk and there was nothing he could do about it.

Kathryn knocked on his door and entered without waiting for a reply. “Benedict’s has three dozen they can deliver. Dee said we can add them to the centerpieces we have if Richdorf’s fails us.”

Jared willed himself to focus on her words. “Thanks, Kathryn.”

She grinned. “Jensen was pretty good, hey? I got goose bumps when his voice went all low like that.”

Jared nodded. “Yeah, me too.” _One extremely large goosebump._

Dee popped her head in the door. “Jared, Jensen and I have an appointment at the house. Call me if Richdorf’s doesn’t deliver on time. Okay, hun?”

“Sure, Dee. And thanks for helping out.”

“It’s my name on the company. It’s not getting tarnished by a lazy florist. I’ll check in later.” She wiggled her fingers in a wave goodbye.

Kim Rhodes looked at the manicured lawn and the well kept, low maintenance brick house and saw dollar signs. It wasn’t for sale, yet, but someday she’d have the listing. Garland and lights adorned the front porch. Potted poinsettias sat on either side of the enormous wood door on which was a large festive wreath. It was the perfect Christmas card image.

When she rang the bell, one of the most attractive men she ever saw greeted her. “Hello, you must be Kim. I’m Jensen, Dee’s nephew. Come on in. Let me take your coat.”

“Thank you.” Kim shifted her briefcase from one hand to the other as Jensen slid the coat from her shoulders. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

“No, but I could say the same about you.” He hung her coat in the closet. “My aunt’s in the kitchen.”

“Thanks, you probably saw my picture on a yard sign or something,” she said over her shoulder.

“Kim,” Dee stood, greeting the realtor with a hug. “Thank you for coming out to the house. Can we get you anything?”

“Yes, I’d love some water,” Kim replied pulling paperwork from her attaché.

Dee turned to Jensen expectantly, but he was staring at Kim. He recognized her as the woman Jared met on the street. “Jensen, can you get Kim a glass of water, dear?”

“Of course.”

Dee and Jensen listened to Kim explain the paperwork and signed their names where she told them. As Kim and Dee discussed her new condo in the Florida Keys, Jensen wondered if she’d mention hiring their firm, or something about new offices, but she didn’t. Then the reason Kim had met Jared at an empty storefront became apparent.

Jensen looked at the paperwork and his aunt’s radiant smile with an overwhelming sense of guilt. Would she still be happy if everything she built crumbled a few months after she left? He felt a twinge of despair and excused himself before his mood dampened his aunt’s joy.

The Wallace house had two Christmas trees. The one in the living room gleamed with tiny white lights and gold and silver ornaments. That was the guest Christmas tree. The real Christmas tree glowed in the den. Aunt Dee called it the family tree. It twinkled with multi-colored lights and had ornaments that Jensen made as a child and those he sent from trips. Nothing matched. There were cartoon characters, elegant baubles, and child-made clumps of dough. But the presents were under this tree.

Jensen doubted he’d put up the tree next year. If Aunt Dee wasn’t around, there was no reason for it. He certainly wouldn’t put up the guest tree. There’d be no guests. Why was he choosing to live in this big old house by himself? Dee had done it, but he wasn’t Dee. His aunt was cordial and outgoing. She had dozens of friends. He had one.

He sat on the couch and flicked an ornament with his finger. If Jared was looking at storefronts, Jared was leaving. If he left, he’d take Kathryn and others with him. Jensen could learn event planning. There were other employees that handled the smaller events and Jensen could always promote one of them. But if Jared became the competition, Jensen didn’t stand a chance.

Jensen couldn’t run the creative department and the company. No one else had the talent to fill Jared’s shoes. Jared’s leaving would be the end of Wallace Entertainment. Jensen might destroy his aunt’s life’s work in less than a year.

The only thing he could do was beg Jared to stay, but he didn’t think it’d be enough.

Jared had a problem. The first step to getting over a problem is admitting it, but Jared wasn’t sure he wanted to be over it. He was addicted to reading ridiculous love stories starring Jensen and Colton. Now that Jensen's deep voice was in his head, the stories had a level of realism. When the character of Jensen told Colton what to do or how to do it, Jared heard Jensen telling him. On Friday night he read until his eyes burned.

Finally, these stories made him want to watch the show. Over Thanksgiving Colton and Jensen acted like nothing more than friends. Jared had to see if their on-screen chemistry was as incredible as the stories claimed.

It wasn’t his kind of show. Urban legends were things he teased others for believing. But, he watched the first episode and decided it wasn’t awful. The characters did look at each other in a way more than brotherly. He began the second episode when he remembered Dee’s description of Jensen’s character. Jared scrolled through the summaries until he found the one in which Jensen was possessed.

He didn’t understand the backstory, but Jensen spent the episode shirtless, sweaty, angry and talking like he smoked a pack a day. Jared spent the episode hard in his jeans.

_Jensen should win an Emmy for this because he is nothing like that character_ , Jared thought. Then he realized the online stories weren’t like him either. The Jensen he met was generous with his time, and polite and sincere enough to publicly apologize to him.

Jensen Ackles might not be the asshole Jared first thought he was.

Just because he left Hollywood, didn’t mean Jensen had forgotten how to act. He put on a smile, bought Christmas wreaths for the office and told himself he had the Christmas spirit. If he convinced the staff he was Clark Griswold, his next goal was making them believe he was a successful business leader. He’d fake it until he made it.

He told Dee to run the senior staff meeting that morning. Jensen wanted to meet with the junior staff to discuss their future with Wallace Entertainment. He had to make these people choose to stay with him over leaving with Jared.

The conference room table was piled with donuts, bagels, fruit, cheese, juices, coffee and tea. But no one touched anything. In fact, the junior staff sat a few inches back from the table.

Jensen stood at the head of the table and said, “Thank you for being here and indulging me with name tags. I’m sorry I don’t know all of you by name yet, hopefully, I will by the end of this meeting.”

Many eager eyes were focused on him, but Jensen thought they were the most uncomfortable looking bunch he’d ever seen. How to break the ice? “Is something wrong with the food?” He snatched a powdered donut off the tray. Taking a huge bite, he made sure he covered half his face with the sugar. “Hm, tastes alright to me,” he added around a mouthful of food. There were a few stifled giggles so he glanced around the room. “What?”

“You have a little…” Felicia said pointing to his face.

“A little what?”

“Sugar? On your face.”

His hand grazed the donut, covering it in more sugar. When he wiped his face, he spread more sugar over himself. It was a cheap tactic, but it worked. More of them laughed at him.

Felicia handed him a napkin. “You’re making it worse.”

He accepted it with a wink causing her to blush scarlet. “While I clean up, please help yourselves to food and drinks. Then we’ll get started.” They continued to hesitate. “Seriously, I bought this for you guys. Don’t force me to give you the starving kids in Africa speech.”

A few brave hands reached for the food closest to them. “Screw it.” A petite brunette stood and walked to the donuts. “I’m taking everything I can.” Others followed her lead and the piles of food dwindled.

“I know this seems backward, but do any of you have questions before we get started?” Jensen asked once the group had settled.

“Yeah, I have a question,” the petite brunette said. “When does the downsizing begin?”

Jensen squinted at her name tag. “Rachel?” She nodded and Jensen continued, “Good to meet you, Rachel. There will be no downsizing. Where did you hear that?”

She shrugged. “New person in charge, new business plan usually means downsizing.”

“Not this time. I’m not cutting benefits either, but unfortunately, we all have to fill out new health insurance forms.” The room groaned at the news. “Hey, would it help if we took a day and had the insurance people here to explain the forms?” Jensen’s confidence grew as they agreed.

“Okay consider it done. The real reason I called this meeting is for you to tell me what you need to make your job easier.”

He pulled a large pad of paper on an easel to the center. “Osric, if you wouldn’t mind writing down suggestions as we call them out, I’d appreciate it.” He turned to Felicia. “What can I do or what do you need to make you better at your job?”

“Flexible hours.”

“Explain,” Jensen prompted her. While she talked, others around the room chimed in with opinions and suggestions. Time flew by as he walked around the room learning their names and getting their ideas.

When they were done, Jensen highlighted the ones he would accomplish that week and set a schedule for most of the other ones. Before the meeting ended, he asked Felicia, Rachel and Genevieve to stay behind.

“I asked you to stay because I want to throw my aunt a going away/retirement party. I was thinking --”

“Why wouldn’t Jared plan it?” Genevieve asked.

“Well, for one, I didn’t ask him to. I’ve seen Jared’s work and it’s great. But my aunt wouldn’t have hired you if she didn’t have faith in you. I want to see what you guys can do.”

They sat straighter in their chairs. Felicia began, “Okay, when is it going to be and where are you planning on having it?”

“Next month. The weekend after the governor’s inauguration and at my aunt’s house.”

They continued to ask him questions until they felt they had a grasp on the type of party he wanted to throw. Their excitement bolstered Jensen’s spirits even more. The entire meeting gave him the confidence that the company would be fine.

He turned Christmas music on the radio and began moving the leftover food to a cart to take to the break room. Quietly singing along to Perry Como’s ‘Home for the Holidays’, he gathered trash and wiped down the table.

Jared heard the song from the hallway and stopped by the door to listen. He couldn’t help but smile at the song and the singer. “Are you going home for the holidays?”

Startled Jensen stopped singing. “I am home.”

“You know we have people to do that.” Jared nodded at the table.

“I don’t mind cleaning up my own messes.” Between the embarrassment of singing to himself and the reminder that he still had to confront Jared, Jensen’s good mood evaporated.

Jared watched him work. It had taken hours to work up the courage to approach Jensen, but now that they were alone, nerves jangled inside him. “So uh, I was wondering if you wanted to get some lunch.”

Jensen looked from the cart of food to Jared. “I’ve kinda been eating all morning.”

Jared laughed at himself. “Right, maybe another time.”

Jensen didn’t feel ready to face Jared, but if Jared was asking for a lunch meeting, he was ready to quit. “Shut the door, would you?” Jensen pulled out a chair and sat at the table. Confused, Jared closed the door and joined him.

“You don’t have to take me to lunch to tell me you’re quitting, Jared. I’m sure you have enough to do without wasting time and money on that.”

Jared’s mouth fell open but he was speechless.

“I’d beg you to stay, but if running your own company is your dream, I won’t stand in the way. It makes sense to get out before the restructuring takes place. Why would you want to be partnered with an unproven idiot like me?”

“Jensen,” Jared began quietly, but Jensen spoke over him.

“It’s just that Dee thought if you ran creative and I handled the business side...” Afraid he was rambling, he stopped. Clearing his throat, he said, “I’m throwing a retirement party for her next month. It would mean a lot if you were there.”

Jared waited before he spoke in case Jensen had more word vomit to spew. Then calmly he said, “I was only asking you to lunch. People gotta eat.” He pushed out of his chair and examined the leftovers on the cart. He selected an apple and polished it on his chest.

Waves of embarrassment and relief washed over Jensen but he faced Jared. “So you’re not quitting?”

“I wanted to get to know you before I made that decision.” He stopped at the door. “How did you know I was thinking about leaving?”

Jensen smirked to himself. “You mean besides the cloud of hostility that surrounds you when I’m around? I saw you with Kim Rhodes.”

Jared didn’t realize he had been so transparent. “Sorry about my attitude.”

“I’ve dealt with worse.”

Jared opened the door and nodded goodbye. But Jensen called after him, “Wait, when will you know if you’re leaving?”

Jared shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe we could discuss it over dinner tonight. People gotta eat.” Jensen tried to seem casual, but in his ears, it sounded desperate.

Jared broke into a bright, wide, dimpled smile. “I’ll meet you at your desk at seven.”

Jared completed the plans for two Christmas parties and a New Year’s Eve bash before having time to himself. He and Dee were scheduled to discuss the Governor’s Ball, but other than that, he was... done? For the day? Before five o’clock? That never happened during the busy season. It rarely happened during the slower seasons. “Kathryn!”

Kathryn flew into his office. “What’s wrong?”

From behind his desk Jared said, “Shut the door.” Kathryn followed his order and sat down with wide anxious eyes. “I’m done.”

She gasped, “You’re quitting?”

“No. I don’t know. I’m not talking about that.” He held up his planner. “I’m done. It’s not even five o’clock and other than talking with Dee, I’ve finished everything on my list.”

Her mouth fell open and her eyes grew impossibly wider. “Has that ever happened before?”

Jared shook his head.

“Briana and Madison make such a difference. I can’t believe we lived so long without our own accountant.”

“And who knew my assistant needed an assistant,” Jared added.

“Jensen.” Kathryn hated feeling like a turncoat but it was the truth. “He took one look at us and got us the help we needed.”

They sat silently for a minute then Jared said, “He knows about me quitting.”

“He does? How?! I swear I didn’t tell anyone.”

“I guess my attitude has been less than stellar and he saw me with Kim Rhodes. He simply put two and two together.”

“Oh shit. Is he going to fire you? Did he tell Dee?”

Jared raised his hand to calm her and shook his head smiling slyly. “No. In fact, he asked me to dinner.”

After taking a moment to process that information, Kathryn was still astonished. “What?”

“I said I’d meet him at seven at his desk.”

“Is this a date?”

Jared chuckled, “No.”

“It should be a date. That’d be hot.”

“Kathryn!” Jared tried to sound admonishing, but he couldn’t deny finding Jensen attractive. “It’s not a date.”

She rolled her eyes. “What will you do for the next two hours?”

Jared grabbed his tablet and stood. “I guess I’ll plan the Governor’s Ball with Dee.”

Jensen didn’t view himself as a salesman, but he needed to sell Jared on staying with Wallace Entertainment. 

When he told his aunt he was having dinner with Jared, she smiled and said, “I’m so happy you two get along.” Jensen wanted to laugh because Jared barely tolerated him, but something about her smile made him pause. Did Aunt Dee have an agenda? She ignored his inquisitive expression and reminded him of her Christmas open house instead. “I’m putting you in charge of the drinks, dear.”

“Yes, Aunt Dee.”

Jensen’s nerves prevented him from focusing. He studied the notes from the morning meeting and prioritized a list of tasks. After the third rewrite of his list, he wanted a drink. A couple beers would make this fade away. Jensen glanced at his watch. Would seven o’clock ever come?

He rubbed his forehead, willing away the stress when he heard his name being called from the hall.

“Jensen?”

He leaned as far back in his chair as he could. “In here!”

Jared appeared at the entrance of the annex. “Hey, there you are. What are you doing back here?”

Jensen had made a mess of the space. “I’d like to call it working, but it’s more like controlling impending disaster.”

Jared thought of his work space and decided he better not judge. “I meant why don’t you have an office?”

“Oh.” Jensen stood and shifted some papers. “I figured why set up an office if I will be moving soon.”

“Moving?” Jared asked, then nodded. “Of course, into Dee’s office.”

Jensen shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Do you want to get out of here? I’m ready if you are.” Jared had his coat draped over his arm.

“God, yes.” Jensen grabbed his coat and scarf. “Lead the way.”

The reservation had been for seven thirty, but they were seated by six. “I’ve never been to this restaurant before. What do you recommend?” Jensen asked, flipping open the menu.

“Everything is good. I’ve never had a bad meal here.”

Jensen shut the menu and perused the wine list. “Nice wine list. Do you drink? I’m ordering a bottle of the house red.”

Jared’s brows rose in surprise, but he didn’t say anything. The waiter arrived and Jared ordered the ranch steak salad earning a look from Jensen who said, “I’m not watching my figure so I’ll have the ribeye, medium, and a bottle of the house red.”

When the waiter left, Jared gently kicked Jensen under the table. “I’m not watching my figure.”

“Whatever. You ordered a salad at a steakhouse,” Jensen teased back, feeling surprisingly comfortable. “Um, so before I forget, will you be coming to Dee’s Christmas thing?”

“Her open house? Yeah, I spend the morning with my parents, but I wouldn’t miss Dee’s party. What about you?”

Jensen shifted in his seat. “Dee’s the only family I have. And since I live with her, yeah, I’ll be seeing her.”

“Oh, sorry, I thought…”

Jensen dismissed Jared’s concern with a wave of his hand. “Colton’s visiting his mom and brother in Kansas.”

The waiter arrived with the wine then, much to Jensen’s relief. He took a grateful swallow and thought he could feel it relax him. Jared took a sip and was pleasantly surprised. “This is good, you know your wine.”

“No. The restaurant knows their wine. I just trusted them.” He fidgeted with his place setting and glass. “Can we get the serious talk finished? I won’t be able to eat if we don’t.”

“Okay. If you insist.” Jared combed a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. “I haven’t decided if I’m leaving, but like you said, it’s the perfect time to start my own firm.”

“Yeah,” Jensen sighed. “You thought Dee would put you in charge when she retired, then I showed up and fucked up your plan.”

Jared shrugged so Jensen nodded and continued, “After all the shit Colton and I went through last year, I was done with Hollywood. Dee asked if I’d ever consider working for her. I never planned an event, but Dee told me not to worry. She had the best creative team in the business.” He gave Jared a soft smile. “She didn’t bring me in to take over, Jared. She brought me in to handle the business side of the company so you would be free to do all the creative.”

“According to Dee, she was burning out until she found you,” Jensen continued. “Once you proved to be the wunderkind, she didn’t want you wasting your energies on crap like payroll, insurance, and taxes. She wanted us to be partners. The only reason I’m the CEO is that the lawyers insisted someone have the title. I’m really just the operations director. That is if you’re staying on to be creative director.”

Jared listened intently. It was true, he hated the ‘business’ side of things. He was so grateful when Briana joined his staff to do accounting. It freed him up to talk to vendors and clients. He hadn’t had time to consider the minutia of running a business.

Jensen thought Jared might be waffling, so he offered his last card. “I know I screwed up my first promise to you, but if you stay on, you won’t even have to see me if you don’t want to. I’ll stay in the annex and leave you to be the face of the company. You and your team can have Dee’s office.” He bit his lip and met Jared’s eyes.

Jared leaned back in the booth. The business model sounded good. Jared could do what he wanted without interference from Jensen. He wasn’t sure he wanted to switch offices, but he’d leave that up to his crew.

Jensen seemed like a good guy, but there was one glaring internet fact Jared had to clear up. Every story had a kernel of truth. If Jensen and Colton were so close why had so many gossip sites declared him a homophobe? Why was Jensen the reason the show was cancelled?

Jensen still had nerves lighting fire to his stomach, but at least Jared listened to his side.

“Dee was right. I’m not fond of that other stuff.” Jared noted that Jensen was suddenly much more relaxed. “There’s just one thing I need cleared up before I decide to stay.”

“Excuse me, sir, your salad.” The waiter placed a heaping dish in front of Jared.

“Holy crap, look at the size of that salad,” Jensen exclaimed. “That could feed a family of four!”

Jared laughed. “Told you I wasn’t watching my figure.”

“Your steak, sir.” 

Jensen’s steak covered his entire plate. “Dang, I forgot what eating in the Midwest is like. I’ll have to add a couple more miles to my daily treadmill.”

Jared pushed his concern to the back of his mind as they enjoyed their meals.

When they walked to their cars at the end of the night, Jensen said, “I know one meal isn’t going to change your mind, but I hope you’ll give this a try before you quit.”

“Actually, Jensen, I need you to explain something.”

It was cold enough to see their breath and Jensen wished Jared would have asked while they were still inside. But, if this meant Jared was staying with the company Jensen wouldn’t complain. “I’ll do my best.”

“I hope so,” Jared said. “I’ve been out and openly gay since high school. Used to get my ass kicked daily because of it. So I made a promise to myself that I would never work with a homophobe.”

Anger and resentment flashed over Jensen’s face. “I’m not -”

“I know you’re friends with Colton and not totally homophobic. But if I’m asked to defend you, I gotta have the truth behind why so many people say you are.”

“That’s fair, I guess,” Jensen mumbled, his insides threatening to revolt. Too embarrassed to meet Jared’s eye, he scanned the parking lot for people. “I said something awful and I said it loudly in front of a group of people. I let my anger get the best of me.”

Jared gave him a disbelieving look. “I could have guessed that. I want to know what provoked it. I need to know if it will happen again.”

Jensen stuffed his hands deep in his coat pockets. He didn’t want to talk about this in some parking lot. He didn’t want to talk about it at all. Still, Jared deserved an answer.

“Okay. Well in Hollywood, there are levels of gay. There’s ‘in the closet but I can’t stop looking’ to ‘Nathan Lane in Birdcage’. I was in the middle at ‘who I fuck is none of your business ‘cause it doesn’t affect my acting’. There’s a lot of us in that level. Colton was until he couldn’t take the pressure anymore.”

He cleared his throat before going on. “I was seeing this guy for almost four years. He’s a bigger star on a bigger show on the network, and I was head over heels for the guy. He told me he was ready to get married and adopt babies with me. But because he didn’t want our relationship public, I kept it on the down low. We’d both attend events with girls that were friends because the network wanted it. But we’d sneak off together as soon as possible. Everyone knew but everyone looked the other way.”

“Two years ago, the network threw a Holiday party. My boyfriend arrived arm in arm with his pregnant fiancée.” The emotions running through him made Jensen pause. He wasn’t going to lose it in some damn parking lot. “I could understand a fiancée. The network would do that kind of crap all the time. But pregnant meant they were fucking while we were together. And I couldn’t take it.”

“I asked to talk to him alone, but he called me a fag and told me to get away from him. I snapped. I didn’t care who was there or who heard me. I called him a fucking faggot ‘cause he’d been fucking one a few hours ago.”

Jared’s eyes were wide and he made a sound somewhere between a laugh and surprise. 

“Can’t really defend my actions. I just wanted to hurt him like he hurt me. Since he was the bigger star the network protected him and I was called a homophobe.” Jensen shook his head at the memory. 

“I was living with Colton at the time. He wanted to come out. He thought that if he did it would prove I wasn’t homophobic. The network said no way. Told him it would end our show.”

He smiled bitterly at Jared. “Perception is reality, I get it. Sorry I put you in an awkward position. I’ll explain it to Dee.” He reached for his door, but Jared stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“Explain what to Dee?”

“Why you won’t work with me. She’ll understand.”

“Wait. I needed an explanation. You gave me one.”

Jared’s matter of fact tone made Jensen stare at him, bewildered. “It can’t be that easy.”

“Yes, it can. You explained the issues I had about the company. Then, you explained the issues I had with you. I can understand an angry, spurned lover, Jensen. ”

“So you’ll stay?”

“Well we really need to get together at work to discuss how we’re going to make changes.”

Jensen was floored. “Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Whenever Kathryn can pencil me in, I’m available.”

Jared listed the events on his schedule for the week trying to find a time he and Jensen could work, when he suddenly realized his new position. “I’m free all day. All day every day until we decide on the changes.”

Jensen had never been more confused. Jared never had a spare minute, now he had all day? “But don’t you have --”

“Dude, I’m the boss. We’re the boss,” he quickly amended. “I can have some of the junior staff handle the end of the year parties. And, well, Dee and I are doing the Governor’s Inauguration, but you and I make the rules. If we need to meet, we’re meeting.”

Jensen smiled at this new, almost giddy version of Jared. “Okay, but I’m freezing my ass off. Can we meet tomorrow morning?”

“Sorry, I forgot you’re still a Cali boy.” Ignoring personal space, Jared moved closer and rubbed his gloved hands up and down Jensen’s arms to warm him. “Better?”

Stunned, Jensen could only blink at him finally answering when Jared squeezed his arms and met his eye. “Yeah.”

Looking into Jensen’s eyes, Jared saw a vulnerability he hadn’t seen before. “I’m sorry for my attitude. Should have known Dee wouldn’t hire a homophobe.” Jared gave his arms a final pat. “Okay. See you tomorrow at eight.”

Awed by the change in Jared, Jensen stood there and watched him leave.


	4. Chapter 4

Jared waited for Jensen in the annex. The wreath on the door and a Christmas tree in one corner surprised him. This didn't look like the office of a person who hated the holidays. He pressed the switch by the tree and the mini colored lights came on, giving the room a cozy glow.

The bulletin board behind Jensen's desk had lights strung across the top, so Jared plugged those in also. He wondered how he’d missed them last night. With these lights on, the annex became a very inviting space. He'd be happy hanging out there all day.

"I must have forgotten to --" Jensen said to himself as he entered and flipped on the overhead fluorescent light.

"Aw, you ruined it," Jared whined from his chair by Jensen's desk.

Jensen jumped at Jared's voice. "Cheese in," he exhaled placing a hand over his heart. "Jared, you scared the crap out of me.”

"Did you just say 'Cheese in'?"

“Yes, I’m trying not to swear.” He took off his coat and scarf and laid them on an extra chair. “Why were you sitting in the dark?"

“I was enjoying your decorations. For a guy who doesn’t like Christmas, your office sure is festive.”

“Call it method acting. If I look the part, eventually I will feel it, too. You know, look festive, feel festive.” He tried to see his workspace from Jared’s point of view. “Why do you think I don’t like Christmas?”

“Colton mentioned it at Thanksgiving.” He pointed to papers from Jensen’s meeting. “What’s all this?”

“Notes from my meeting with the junior staff.” Jensen walked over to where the sheets were taped to the wall. “These in red are the ones I’m working on first. Then, over here, are wish-list items. And this page is a list of their projects.”

There were post-it notes with Jensen’s handwriting by various items on the list. “You really know what you’re doing with all this, don’t you.”

Jensen shrugged modestly. “Well yeah, it’s my job. If I want the company to succeed, my employees gotta be happy.” He scribbled ‘insurance meeting’ on a post it and put it on the giant wall calendar. “The insurance company’s coming in that day to explain the new policy and help us fill out forms. I need to send out a memo about that.” He muttered to himself as he wrote another note and stuck it to the computer monitor.

“The calendar is a good idea,” Jared said with a nod to Jensen’s notes. “We should get a couple giant whiteboard calendars and have everyone post on them. It would be a great way to know who’s working on what and what resources they might need.”

“Yeah,” Jensen agreed, an excited smile forming on his face. “Osric said there was a computer program that did that, but I and a couple of the others liked the idea of a physical one.”

“We should do both.”

Jensen agreed and wrote down that idea and posted it next to the others.

“What you really need is an assistant,” Jared suggested.

“Can I have Kathryn?” Jensen joked.

“No. Never. I don’t even want to give up Madison.”

Jensen grinned at Jared’s devotion to his assistant. “Do you think Osric could do it? He’s smart and -”

“No, not Osric.” Jared felt a flicker of jealousy at the idea of a young man working for Jensen. “He’d need too much training to run your office.”

“Wouldn’t someone from the bullpen think of it as a demotion? I don’t mind training someone since we’d kind of be learning together.”

Jared racked his brain to remember Kathryn’s friend from shipping. “Why don’t you offer the position to Ashley Benson? She runs the shipping office, so she’s familiar with all kinds of office work and software. She'd see it as a definite promotion. Plus, Kathryn’s friends with her. Osric or Colin can take her place since they know that department.”

“Okay. I’ll call her in for an interview this afternoon.” He wrote another note.

Jared stood in front of a page of notes and pointed at a note in red. “What’s this one about flex time?”

When Jensen joined him in front of the paper, Jared casually rested his forearm on Jensen’s shoulder. He kept pointing at other notes and asking for explanations just so he could keep Jensen close.

Jensen didn’t understand why Jared was so interested in every detail of his meeting. He didn’t care. If Jared was going to keep touching him, Jensen would explain every note in detail making something up if he had to. It felt so good to be close to someone again, he hadn’t realized how much he missed it.

Kathryn stood at the entrance of the annex watching Jared’s sorry attempt at flirting. She couldn’t roll her eyes hard enough. What had happened during dinner the night before? If angry Jared turned into this starry-eyed idiot, Jensen must have won him over and they were staying at Wallace Entertainment. She watched them talk a while. They looked good together, she thought, smiling to herself. Obviously she was going to have to help them get together.

Unfortunately, they had work to do.

“There you are.” Kathryn’s voice startled both men and they jumped apart. She pretended she didn’t notice and said, “Dee wants to see the two of you about the caterers for the Inauguration.”

Jensen wrinkled his face in confusion. “Me? Why would she want me there?”

“I don’t know. You can ask her at the meeting.” Kathryn spun on her heel but Jensen called her back.

“Kathryn, wait. Your friend,” he paused to check his note, “Ashley, would she consider being my assistant?”

“Yeah. She’d probably jump at the chance. Do you want me to ask her?”

“Could you? I can meet her this afternoon.”

“Sure. No problem. I’ll text her right now.” Kathryn grinned. If anybody can help her scheme, it’s Ashley.

Jared knocked on Dee’s door. “Dee, are you ready for us?”

Dee’s glanced up from her computer screen to find both Jared and Jensen in her office. She had no idea why Jensen had joined them until the men sat down. From behind them Kathryn caught her eye and winked.

Dee looked from one man to the other and said, “Good, you’re both here. After the situation with the Washington wedding, I realized Jensen doesn’t know your side of the business at all, Jared. So I thought you could show him the ropes by working together to choose the caterer and the band.” She checked their expressions and found them both confused.

“I will handle the guest list, decorations, and schedule of events,” she added, trying to sound authoritative and nonchalant at the same time. She raised a brow in challenge to their unspoken questions.

Jensen’s eyes cut to Jared. Spending more time with him would be great, but there was so much work he had to do. “What about, I mean, I have to get an assistant and there’s things I promised the staff-”

Dee ignored his concern. “Jensen, I’m only talking a couple hours a day. You’ll still have time for the other items on your agenda.”

He turned to the man next to him, nervous that Jared could tell how much he wanted this. “Jared, would you mind if I tagged along?”

Jared shrugged casually. Would he mind several mini dates with Jensen? “Sounds good to me. We can work on the Christmas open house at the same time.”

Dee handed him a list. “Perfect. Now get out. I have work to do,” she said with a smile.

Dee allowed her nephew to help her with her coat. “Are you sure you don’t want to join me? The midnight service is lovely, Jensen.”

“No, Aunt Dee. I’ll stay here and wait for the ghosts of Christmas to visit.”

“Very funny. You are not a Scrooge.” She put on her gloves and grabbed her purse. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours depending on Reverend Brougham’s sermon. Don’t go peeking in any presents and no snacking on the food for tomorrow.”

“I’m all grown up now, Aunt Dee. I won’t even shake a box. I promise.”

“Better not,” she called over her shoulder as she left.

Jensen sat back on the couch and turned on _Scrooged_ starring Bill Murray. It was his favorite version of the story because it showed idiotic Hollywood executives and it made him laugh. Carol Kane’s Ghost of Christmas Present had just smacked Bill Murray with a toaster when Jensen’s phone buzzed a text.

It was probably Colton checking in again, Jensen thought, digging the phone from his pocket.

A giddy rush went through him when he saw it was from Jared. Somehow, during the past few weeks, they’d become inseparable, and Jensen now had dozens of texts from Jared saved on his phone. They messaged each other whenever they were apart - though sometimes Jared would text him from across the room just to make him laugh. Their friendship had happened so gradually that now it seemed natural, like they’d been that way all along. It began the day Jensen found Jared in his office. Since that moment, they spent every day together, sometimes working ten to twelve hour days, but the time flew by.

Jensen felt awkward walking to separate cars at the end of the day. He wanted Jared to come home with him. Everything was better when Jared was there to share it.

**_What are you doing?_ **

_Thinking of you and wishing you were here_. He told himself that he did not have feelings for Jared. Jared was smart, fun to hang with and funny as hell. Just because all of that was wrapped up in a smokin’ hot body didn’t mean there should be anything more than friendship. _Don’t fall for the first decent guy… too late_. Jensen sighed.

**_Watching Scrooged. Wht ru doing?_ **

**_Freezing my nuts off. Open the door._ **

Jensen read it twice before going to the front door and opening it. “Jared, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Caroling.”

Jensen stepped aside. “Shut up. Get in here before your nuts actually do freeze off.”

The front hall glowed in cozy warmth, illuminated only by the lights of Dee’s guest tree.

“Couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see me, huh?” Jensen teased to cover the fact that he found Jared striking in the soft light.

“Something like that,” Jared admitted quietly.

Jared’s sudden quietness caught Jensen off guard. He edged closer to look Jared in the eye. “Jared? Is everything alright?”

Jared’s lip twitched into a small smile. “I didn’t want to wait ‘til tomorrow for this.” He leaned forward, his tongue wetting his bottom lip before he pressed his mouth to Jensen’s.

Jensen’s lips were warm against his and Jared’s heart began racing. He was amazed at how perfectly they fit together, but a wave of nerves had Jared pulling back. Jensen chased after him, one hand going to Jared’s hip and squeezing to hold him there. He tugged Jared’s lip between his teeth to get another kiss. Jared surrendered and deepened the kiss allowing Jensen’s tongue to slide against his. Jensen’s hand slid up Jared’s neck to touch his face. His thumb mapped the shape of Jared’s cheekbone and his fingers combed into his hair.

They broke the kiss but Jared rested his forehead against Jensen’s. “Tomorrow was too far away. I had to know if you want this as much as I do.”

_More_ , Jensen thought, though he whispered, “Yes” into his next kiss. He moved his hand from Jared’s hip to the small of his back, holding him closer.

“Where’s Dee?” Jared panted.

Jensen leaned back. “Now’s not the time to think about my aunt,” he growled.

Jared emitted a tiny pained noise and his knees weakened enough to make him unsteady. Concerned, Jensen grabbed Jared’s arms. “Jared? You alright?”

Aware he was furiously blushing, Jared owned up to his weakness. “Your voice, that voice, does something for me.”

“Does it?” Jensen whispered, his voice an octave lower. He kept close enough to feel the cold of Jared’s body. “Take off your coat. Stay a while.”

“You sure Dee won’t mind?” He toed off his shoes and slid his coat down one sleeve at a time so that he always had one hand on Jensen.

“She’s at church,” Jensen replied appreciating the way Jared’s thin sweater stretched across his chest and shoulders. No longer content to settle in the foyer, Jensen took Jared’s hand and led him into the great room.

Jared stopped him in front of the tree, wrapping his arms around him from behind and kissing his neck. Jensen stretched an arm up to sift his fingers into Jared’s hair, his other arm on Jared’s across his stomach. Jensen’s head tilted to the side letting Jared’s mouth travel the length of Jensen’s neck. Jared held Jensen solidly with one arm. His other hand slid lower to cup Jensen through his thin pajama pants causing the man to moan and rock back. Jared ground his hips against Jensen’s luscious ass.

Jensen felt completely surrounded by Jared. His dick hardened as Jared stroked him. Rocking back, he could feel Jared’s growing erection through his jeans. He desperately wanted to get his hands on Jared so he turned in their embrace. His mouth sought Jared’s in another round of hungry kisses. Then Jared tugged on the string of Jensen’s pants.

Jensen tugged his shirt over his head because getting naked with Jared in front of a Christmas tree was a fantasy come true.

Without the pajama pants blocking him, Jared returned to stroking Jensen. “Fuck, your cock is as perfect as the rest of you,” he murmured before taking another kiss.

Jensen popped the button of Jared’s jeans and slid open the zipper. He worked the jeans past Jared’s ass exposing his cock. Jared broke the kiss long enough to rip his sweater over his head while Jensen wrapped a hand around him and stroked.

Craving more contact, they fumbled to the floor, bodies pressed against each other. Mouths and hands exploring and tasting, reverently learning what made each other frantic. It soon became too much for Jensen and he moaned Jared’s name in his raspy deep voice as he came. Jared followed instantly, shuddering through his own release.

They laid together under the tree, catching their breath, allowing their mess to cool and dry between them. Jared rolled back, separating them but smiling like Jensen had granted every wish he ever made. “Best Christmas present ever.”

Jensen laughed. “Beats the hell out of socks.” Still recovering, Jensen handed Jared his t-shirt to wipe their mess off his chest and body. He used it when Jared finished with it.

Jared faced Jensen and propped himself up on his elbow. “I’m not one to hide. If we’re doing this, I want the world to know.”

“If?” Jensen looked insulted for a second. “I’d say we definitely are.” He curled up to kiss Jared. “As for the world knowing, can we wait until after the party tomorrow so we can tell Dee together? Unless you’re spending the night…”

Jared kissed him back. “I’d love to spend the night, but I have to be at my folks’ by eight.” He traced Jensen’s cheek bone with a fingertip. “You’re right. We should tell Dee first.”

Dee discreetly hung mistletoe in the foyer and hall. But, when Jared arrived, Jensen was pouring wine in the great room. After kissing him hello she directed him to the other room. “Be sure to get a glass of wine, dear.”

Jared and Jensen exchanged small smiles. “Nice tree.”

Jensen bit his lip. “Thanks. I’ve taken quite a liking to it recently.” He raised the bottle of wine he’d been pouring. “I’d offer you some, but I’m out. There’s more on the buffet in the dining room. Help yourself.”

“Thanks.” Jared squeezed Jensen’s arm as he moved around him.

In the dining room, Kathryn had just filled her plate when she spotted Jared. “Merry Christmas, Jared!”

“Same to you, Kathryn.” He opened a bottle of wine and offered her a glass.

“No thanks, I have one in the other room.” She glanced in Jensen’s direction. “You don’t have to do that. Jensen’s in charge of the wine and drinks.”

Jared’s face wrinkled in confusion. Since when were there rules about pouring wine? “Okay, but Jensen sent me in here.”

“Oh.” Kathryn frowned. She needed a better excuse to get them together. “Uh, have one of the brownies. Ty’s wife baked a mini Snickers bar into each piece.”

“Really?” Jared’s eyes lit up and he left to get a brownie for himself.

Was chocolate an aphrodisiac? Kathryn wondered. She hoped so as she made her way over to Jensen. “Jensen, have you tried the brownies Ty brought? They’re delicious.”

Jensen patted his belly and grinned. “I know. If I ate one more bite I’d have to change into sweatpants.” He left her to her plate as she sat next to Ashley.

“We have to get him and Jared alone together.”

Ashley shook her head. “They were alone together all week while they checked out bands for the Governor’s thing. Maybe they’re not into each other.” Not caring either way, she took a large sip of her cocktail.

Kathryn scowled at her. Some co-conspirator she turned out to be. “Ugh, you’re no help.”

“Sorry.”

Jensen was sure his every thought showed on his face when he found himself alone with Jared in the hallway.

Jared’s eyes fell to Jensen’s lips and lingered there. “Hey.”

“Hey.” An excited smile began to curl Jensen’s lip when Adam appeared out of nowhere. “Hey Jensen, where do you keep the extra wii remotes?”

Snapped from his lust-for-Jared daze, Jensen turned to Adam. “They should be in the top drawer under the bookshelf. I’ll show you.”

Dee wanted to stamp her foot in frustration. The scene in the hallway looked so promising. Why did Adam have to interrupt them? She was sure if her nephew and Jared were alone together, somewhere romantic, without the demands of work, sparks would fly. But how to do that? She needed a cookie. And a cocktail. That should help inspire her.

“Hi, Mrs. Wallace. Thanks for inviting us over. You have a lovely home.” Kathryn poured herself a glass of wine and raised it in a toast to her boss.

“Thank you, Kathryn, and you can call me Dee,” she replied before realizing who she was speaking with. “Kathryn, don’t you think Jared and my nephew would make a handsome couple?”

Kathryn nodded. “Definitely. They just need a tiny push in the right direction.”

Dee turned the full force of her smile on the girl. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Mrs. Wallace? Do you have any more of this red wine?” Ashley held up an empty bottle.

Dee looked at the bottle, then at Kathryn and finally back at the girl. “Yes, I do.” She leaned into Kathryn’s side and whispered. “You send Jensen. I’ll send Jared.”

Jensen took a bottle from the case and read the label. “These people drink as much as the folks in Hollywood,” he said to himself. So he wouldn’t be caught short again, he grabbed a second bottle. He made his way to the other end of the wine cellar when he heard someone on the steps. “Hello?”

“Jensen?” Jared called in reply.

“Jared?” Jensen called, surprised just as much. He forgot the other bottles on his list and joined Jared. “What are you doing down here?”

“Dee sent me for another bottle of Ca’ Tongi,” he explained, though he wondered why she sent him if Jensen was already down here.

“I --” he stopped as he heard a clicking sound from above them. “Holy shit. They locked us in.”

“What?” Jared spun around to face the door.”Why would they do that? They know we’re down here.”

“Exactly.” Jensen set the bottles he’d been holding on the shelf behind him. “I think we’re being set up.”

“Like a joke? ‘Cause it’s a bad one.”

“No, like a date,” Jensen explained. “I thought it was odd that Dee was hanging mistletoe.”

Jared nodded. “And Kathryn kept refusing to join us to listen to the bands and for the tastings.”

They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“We probably shouldn’t disappoint them,” Jensen said, stepping into Jared’s personal space. “It seems to be their Christmas wish.”

Still smiling, Jared pulled Jensen closer. “They were both so good this year.” He slanted his mouth over Jensen’s.

The kiss was slow and lazy like they didn’t have a party full of people waiting for them. But kissing Jensen was as perfect as Jared had hoped it would be and the kiss quickly intensified. Jared’s hand squeezed Jensen’s ass and held their bodies tightly together.

Jensen patted Jared’s chest and interrupted their kiss. “Hey, I like where this is going, but not in the wine cellar. I was hoping our Christmas present would involve a bed or even a floor that’s not concrete.”

Jared stifled his groan of disappointment. “You’re right.” He took in Jensen’s mussed hair and slightly rumpled clothes. “Though you already looked debauched.” He squeezed Jensen’s ass again and nipped at his mouth.

Jensen rolled his hips against Jared just enough to feel a growing reaction. “We should get back,” he whispered in the voice he knew was Jared’s weakness.

Jared groaned and pushed him away. “I can’t go back there like this,” he said indicating the bulge in his pants. “I need to calm down.”

Jensen laughed. “They haven’t unlocked the door. We’re not going anywhere.” He sat against the wall. “Might as well get comfortable. I’ll try calling Dee.”

Jared sat next to him. “Hold on, I got this.” He held out his phone to take a selfie of them when Jensen rested his head on Jared’s shoulder. “I’ll send this to Kathryn. It should be enough for her to let us out.”

Jensen kissed his cheek. “It better be because she’s not getting a picture of us doing more.”

After being released, a giddy Kathryn greeted them. “I’m so happy for you guys!” she sang clapping her hands.

“Thanks.” Jensen tried to control the color rising in his cheeks. “Where’s Dee?”

Kathryn looked around. “I don’t know. She was right here.”

Suddenly Jensen knew exactly where she was.”Come on.” He took Jared’s hand in his and led him to the den.

Dee was in front of the family Christmas tree admiring the ornaments Jensen had given her over the years.

“Hey, Aunt Dee.”

She turned and smiled as bright as the star on the top of the tree. “Look at you two. Found your Christmas present, huh.”

Smiling and blushing even deeper, Jensen tugged on their joined hands. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”

Dee looked up at the man who made her nephew glow. “Jared, thank you for giving us a chance. I hoped Jensen would win you over.” She took their free hands in hers. “Now let’s take our family Christmas photo.” When Jared began to move away, Dee held his hand tighter. “Oh no, Jared, you’ll be family soon enough.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed our collaboration. Kudos and comments are so appreciated, as are you ♥ Happy holidays!


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